Tadaima
by SkyGem
Summary: Kevin notices something odd about his friend Ryoma and decides to ask him about it. No pairings. Two-shot.
1. Chapter 1

Summary: Kevin notices something odd about his friend Ryoma. Two-shot. No pairings.

SkyGem: Hey all! Okay, first of all, I'm really sorry for not updating this past week or so, but see, first, my internet crashed, and then, two days later, so did my hard drive, and I had to reboot my computer, which means all the chapters of the fics I've been working on have been erased, and now I have to re-write them . . . not to mention the fact that I have no way to post them, since my internet is **still **down! God, it's frustrating. Anyways, right now I'm actually at the library, which is how I've been able to post this, but I can't come here often, so my fics will have to go on an indefinite hiatus until my internet connection has been fixed. Gomenasai!

Disclaimer: I don't own Prince of Tennis.

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><p>"I'm back!" shouted Ryoma in English as he entered his home in America.<p>

"Sorry to intrude!" shouted Kevin, who had picked up his old habit from when he had stayed in Japan after he had started hanging out with Ryoma. Even though they were always conversing in English, they would sometimes use Japanese gestures (thank you for the food, sorry to intrude, please take care of me, etc).

About five minutes later, both boys had made themselves comfortable in Ryoma's room, "studying" for their upcoming exams.

"Gah! I hate exams!" Kevin suddenly blurted out of nowhere, falling on his back and staring at the ceiling. "I can't wait 'til summer starts!"

An amused smirk spread across Ryoma's face as he stared at his blond friend. "It's only been five minutes, Kevin. Anyways, at least you don't have to go to summer school."

Still lying on his back, Kevin smirked at the ceiling. "Oh yeah, the Japanese school year finished in March, didn't it?"

"That's right," said Ryoma, sitting back with a sigh. "Which means I'm 3 months behind."

"Then why don't you stay in America, instead of moving back? You can live with my family, and that way you have the whole summer free," said the blonde teen, giving a half-hearted attempt at convincing his friend to not move.

Ryoma's smirk morphed into a genuine smile, and the boy said, "No way in hell." Even if the American school year was only just finishing, and even if he would have to study all summer to catch up to where his classmates (who had already graduated junior high three months ago) were, there was nothing that could stop him moving back to his homeland.

Suddenly sitting up, Kevin changed the topic (whether it was intentional or not, Ryoma would never know).

"You're pretty weird though, Ryoma," he said, with a half smile tugging at his lips. "Even though you've been living here for the past two years, and you only lived in Japan for even less than a year, you still consider it your home, don't you?"

"What makes you think that?" asked Ryoma, curious at his friend's line of reasoning.

Kevin shrugged. "Well," he said. "Even though we always speak in English, you're still weirdly polite, in a . . . Japanese way. You always speak respectfully towards the teachers, and when we were 8th graders, you were pretty damn polite to the upperclassmen . . . in comparison." He had added the "in comparison" part because, even though Ryoma had never done anything to openly provoke the older kids (which was more than he could say for some), his natural arrogance had still annoyed much of the 9th graders, which Ryoma himself was obviously aware of but didn't do anything to improve.

"Yeah," said Ryoma, looking more than a little confused. "And?"

"**And** I don't remember you ever saying 'I'm home' or 'welcome home' these past two years," replied Kevin, referring to the tradition of saying 'tadaima' or 'okaeri'. "It's always 'I'm back' or 'welcome back'."

The greenette* didn't reply, surprised at his friend's perceptiveness. He hadn't been doing it consciously; it was just that he couldn't bring himself to say the word 'home' in relation to anything but that temple in Japan he'd lived in for such a short amount of time.

"Wow," he said, sounding incredulous. "For once in your life, you're actually right."

"Of course I am," said Kevin, smirking. Then, realizing that he'd just been insulted, he said, "Hey!"

Throwing his head back, Ryoma let out a laugh. It was so much fun teasing the blonde.

Kevin, frustrated that he couldn't think of anything to retort back with, decided to keep quiet.

A few moments of companionable silence passed by before the blonde said in a pondering voice, "You'll say it next week, though, won't you? When you go back to Japan?"

For a moment, Ryoma sat in silence, staring into space and already thinking of the trip he would go on next week which would take him halfway around the world.

Then, in the same, pondering tone as his friend, he said, "Probably. . ."

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><p>*Greenette: one with green hair. Yes, I know it's not a real word, but if people use silverette to describe Gokudera from KHR or blunette for Dawn from Pokemon, then I do believe I deserve some leniency here.<p>

SkyGem: So, what did you guys think? It was probably pretty boring for you all, but I found it quite cute. This idea came to me out of the blue a few days ago, and I just had to write it. The idea just wouldn't stop nagging me until I did. XD It actually came out a lot better the second time (the first version I wrote was erased along with everything else on my computer the first time), so I guess it kinda makes it worth re-writing the whole thing from scratch. But the sad thing is that all the wonderful pictures that I had saved on my computer were deleted, which means the only pictures of Beast that I can obsess over until my internet is fixed are the ones in the photo-book that came with the fiction and fact album I bought a while ago. . .but at least those pictures are smokin' hot XD as in, even hotter than usual. Hehe, Seobbie looks really hot in skinnies! Anyways, enough of my fangirling! I must go write the short second chapter of this fic! Please do remember to leave a review and tell me what you thought, hm? Bye for nao~


	2. Chapter 2

SkyGem: Okay all, here's the final chapter! I hope you all like it and please don't forget to leave a review, hm?

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><p>A certain fifteen year old greenette smiled as he stepped off the plane and onto Japanese soil for the first time in two years.<p>

Looking around, the boy relaxed a little as he saw himself surrounded by other Japanese people instead of the foreigners he had gotten accustomed to in his time in America.

Following his parents to the luggage carousel, he smiled a little as he let the sounds of the airport wash over him, filling his ears; the sound of people conversing in Japanese instead of English.

"Oi! Gaki! Stop loitering and hurry up!" shouted Ryoma's father. Irritated at the man for interrupting his reverie, Ryoma walked forward and grabbed Karupin's cat carrier (he'd sent all his other belongings ahead). Ending down, he pulled the Himalayan out of the carrier and held him in the crook of his arm, holding the carrier in his other hand.

As Ryoma walked along behind his parents on their way to the taxi, Karupin licked his master's chin and purred, seeming as happy as Ryoma was to be back in Japan.

Before he knew it, Ryoma had already arrived at a taxi and was climbing in beside his mother with Karupin in his lap.

During the whole ride home, he kept his eyes glued to the window of the cab as if it were the most interesting television show on the face of the planet, and the moment the car stopped in front of the temple, he jumped out without a second glance and rushed towards the familiar building.

Before he could get inside, though, there was a shout of, "There he is!"

Turning to see who it was, Ryoma saw all his former team mates from junior high. Fuji-sempai had been the one to call out.

"Kya! Ochibi-chan!" shouted Eiji, running up and grabbing Ryoma into a bone-crushing embrace. "We missed you _**so**_ much! You are never allowed to leave again!" he shouted.

When he noticed that aforementioned ochibi-chan was too busy suffocating to respond to what he had said, he reluctantly loosened his grip a little.

Ryoma immediately took a gulp of much needed air, but was attacked again almost immediately by his best friend, who had captured him in yet another lethal embrace.

As Oishi came over with a worried look, he said, "Momo, let go of Ryoma-kun! He's turning blue!"

Looking sheepish, the second-year immediately let go, and the others came to greet the newly returned rookie of their team.

After all the greetings were done, Ryoma invited his friends inside so they could catch up, and all of them eagerly agreed.

With a smile on his face, Ryoma led his sempai-tachi towards his house, and the moment he stepped over the threshold, he said the one word he hadn't tasted on his lips for a long time now.

"Tadaima."


End file.
